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Pretty Bird Hot Chicken is a fast casual restaurant chain, based in Salt Lake City. The restaurant is the work of Viet Pham. The restaurant’s menu features a simply line up of chicken prepared with a Nashville hotc chicken style.
If you’re interested in the back story – Pham first made his name in Utah with the fine dining Forage, a molecular-gastronomy collab with chef Bowman Brown. The restaurant opened in 2009 and offered an idiosyncratic treat for marooned Utah foodies; plating as it did, a nightly eleven course tasting menu for a measly $89.
When Forage turned the lights off in 2016 (paving the way for Veneto to take over the space), Pham departed the local food scene, embarking on a variety of TV projects; notably besting Bobby Flay twice on the famed chef’s one on one cook off show. After a two year hiatus, and endless speculation, Pham returned to Utah.
In a move about as diametrically-opposed to Forage as possible, Pham turned his attention to fried chicken rather than foie gras; apparently being turned onto the popular Nashville style preparation while roaming Orange County during filming for his appearances on the Next Food Network Star – the same launch vehicle that propelled Guy Fieri to Lagrange point success.
Pham – a Food & Wine Magazine Best Chef winner in 2011 – naturally tapped his fine dining background to create what some reckon is the best fried chicken sandwich for 100s of miles in any direction. Case in point, in an interview with Park Record this year, he confided it took no less than three years of experimentation with a variety of bakers and companies before he was finally happy with the bun the company uses.
Attention to detail is of course everywhere as he also went on to explain, “we start with the bottom bun, and then put sauce on it. Then we put on the chicken, pickles and slaw and then the top bun. It has to be done in that order, because if you put the slaw on before the pickles, it would not taste right.” Pretty Bird’s chicken is prepared using double battered boneless chicken thighs, brushed in buttermilk then coated in flour. The chicken is then fried in a fancy pants pressure fryer for the prized taste that fans crave.
The first restaurant opened in downtown SLC in 2018 to a baying crowd. The restaurant saw almost instantaneous lines out of the doors and down Regent Street. To this day, the line is often just as re-assuringly long.
Pretty Bird MK2 came next, opening in the Spring of 2021, moving into the spot left vacant by the departed Sampan (just over the road from Dee’s at 675 E 2100 S). The opening came with a small menu expansion, adding chicken breast tenders alongside the hefty thigh-borne sandwiches and quarter cut prices of bird. The sophomore opening also saw the downtown location switch to walk-up window only; a smart move for the original’s snug 525 square foot environs. Skip forward to this year and Park City came online around February, offering another dine in location for Pham-fans. Which brings us to this Summer and the latest venture.
Downtown SLC
146 Regent St, Salt Lake City, UT 84111
Sugar House
675 E 2100 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84106
Midvale
7169 S. Bingham Junction Blvd, Midvale UT 84047
Here are all the times we’ve mentioned Pretty Bird:
Sometimes it’s hard to see the woods for the trees. Or should that be gyro for the tzatziki. Feel free to insert your own edible idiom, then proceed onto this most mammoth of lists. Essentially a rough recap of the better plates of food that were placed before my greasy mitts in 2022. Stuck in … Read more
We’re gonna need a bigger boat. Maybe two. Clocking in at somewhere close to 20,000 words, and recapping the unveiling of more than 160 bars and restaurants that opened across Utah this year – I give you our end of year monster. Please do note that this Frankenstein is cobbled together from a variety of … Read more
Barely a month has passed since I trolleyed this collection of plates before your eyes, and based off of the feedback, you want even more. In no particular order then, here are two dozen or so notables that’s been plated in front of me over the past few weeks. Hopefully it gives you some dining … Read more
Roll up, roll up. It’s time to rapidly run down the list of new, notable and next. In the year to date so far we’ve seen a whirlwind of openings – and it doesn’t look set to slow any time soon. Since the last recap in July there’s another three dozen or so places to … Read more
The headline news – at least according to out of state onlookers and column inches – is the return of mini bottles in the Beehive. Last seen on shelves here in the 1980s, a vote at the July DABS meetup saw their re-instatement approved. Ho hum huh. Miniature liquor bottles of 50ml and wine of … Read more
For fans of this local mini-chain, clear the whole of your August calendar, because Midvale is set to become the fourth location in Viet and Alexis Pham’s burgeoning fried chicken empire. According to DABS July agenda notes, the business has applied for a limited service liquor license – which affords beer and wine sales. With … Read more
Neutral Ground Kicking off this month’s roundup of the new and notable updates on our dining scene – this intriguing new opening. Neutral Ground is the work of John Belvin Jr. – former Louisianan private chef and now – Utah based restaurateur. Belvin brings with him a range of traditional New Orleans’ dishes such as … Read more
Despite the ever present threat of Covid this year, the food and drink scene in Utah has boomed unlike any other I can remember in recent memory. The following list contains nigh on two hundred different business that opened their doors around the Beehive this year: bars, coffee shops, bakeries, food trucks, delivery services and … Read more
Get ready for a fraught 2022 folks. Following this months DABC meeting, Ben Winslow confirmed via this story that the Utah legislature seems unmoved by the perilous state of Utah’s liquor license inventory. Indeed, things might actually get worse yet still – if that’s even possible. As part of the FOX13 story, Winslow highlighted the … Read more
Hot on the heels of our last major new restaurant roundup – here’s another slew of new businesses for your dining delectation. If you’ve missed the most recent recaps, you can also catch up on our August, June and March collections; combined they have more than 100+ new restaurant openings across the valley this year … Read more
It’s been quite the busy few months in restaurant world. Despite my own frenzied hand waving and chicken little-esque chirps of the sky is falling – a galaxy of starry eyed restaurateurs have thrown their hats in the ring. Who will succeed, who will fail, well that’s pretty much up to you dear reader. It’s … Read more
As I wrote about back in March, I’ve started to drip feed opening updates at a much quicker cadence years gone by. Since that last major roundup we’ve had a few smaller, more easily digestible pieces. You can see everything here. Still, sometimes you need one big roundup to rule them all. A recap of … Read more
Eat Drink SLC postpones big bash Sad news from one of the best food and drink festivals in the state. Eat Drink SLC reports that they’ve decided to revisit the 2020 furloughing of the event. Writing to their Facebook followers the organization stated: Like you, we were hoping to be popping corks, clinking glasses, and … Read more
While many celebrated March 14th’s Pi Day (3.14, get it?) at their favorite pizza joint, those in the know moseyed on down to lower Sugar House and checked out the second installation of Viet Pham’s ode to fried chicken. Pretty Bird Mk2 opens in the spot left vacant by the now departed Sampan (just over … Read more
Pull up a chair, close the blinds, pour yourself a triple. This is going to be a long one. October was the last time we corralled all the recent restaurant openings in one place, and wow, things have been piling up – 60+ shiny new businesses. Ulp. Ordinarily I intertwine these pieces with some snark … Read more
It’s the time of the year that I usually put together the yearly run down of the dining scene – you can see previous years here: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016. The yearly State Of The Plate is a distillation of every best of list and readers choice award. This would have been the fifth installment … Read more
Restaurant closures First up, a quick look at this month’s restaurant casualties; remember we’re keeping a running tally of all the Covid-crushed businesses here too. Mazza Sandy – Following on from the shuttering of the 9th and 9th location, the popular Lebanese restaurant group, which only a while ago numbered three, is now down to … Read more
As I recently wrote, the hospitality industry is facing a tumultuous upheaval. Despite the shifting odds of success though, there’s still more than one restaurateur willing to roll the dice. In fact there’s a whole heap of them ready to lay down a bet. Here are all the latest businesses to open across the Wasatch … Read more
Eat Drink SLC Probably the highlight of last year’s dining event and festival calendar was Eat Drink SLC’s fifth installment. Sadly, the inevitable news arrived this week that the 2020 edition is set to be nixed. At least in the format you know and love. This year – for more than obvious reasons – the … Read more
Black owned restaurants With the nation grappling to understand and react to the horrific events of late, many have wanted to show their support in any way they can. One small way is of course to support black owned businesses in your community. By now I’m sure you’ve already seen many lists on social media. … Read more